Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-27

The school Text.HOOks.

The school Text-BOOks.
The late Superintendent OF State
Printing has sent to Governor Bart
lett, supplemental report, in which
he brings the business OF his depart
ment down to the close OF the year
1886. The repor. shows that the gen.
eral printing for the various depart
ments of the State is increasing great
ly in volume and cost, and he ascribes
this fact to three causes: |. During
the term of the late administration
the Legislature added eight new
departments, consisting OF commits
sions and boards, to the State Govern
ment. and also attached to the
Government for printing purposes,
the Lick Observatory, the officers OF
which are now getting out very
costly meteorological report, similar
to those got out at the Public Print
ing Office at Washington for the
Washington Observatory. ?. The
natural increase in the volume of the
printing for the regular departments
on account of the growth ofthe business
and population OF the State. 3. The
fact that every department, board
and commission in the State now gets
every pound OF stationery and every
blank book and ledger used by them
from the State Printing Office. For
merly, stationery was supplied to the
departments either by the Secretary
OF State or purchased out Of specia |
or contingent funds appropriated
to them for thatpurpose. But now this
is all changed. Whatever is re-
quired in the shape OF stationery or
blank books is ordered from the State
Printer, an excuse OF printing being
added to it to justify, under the law,
the requisition. The report approves
of this IN ode of supplying the State
offices with stationery, but insists
that the fact itself should be gen.
orally known. On this subject the
report says:
lido not say that this is not proper,
nor that this is not the best way in.
which the State stationery should be
furnished; for it is. Coming as it
does from this department, the quail
ty of the material furnished is likely
to be better than it would be if bought
promiscuously and certainly it costs
the State much less than if purchased
Unfortunately and in small lots.
What l wish, however, TO make
known and emphasize is the fact that
the large and increasing expenditure
of this department is due to legtl-
mate causes. and that it is in the in
terest of public economy, as far as
the stationery used by the State is
concerned.
But that portion of the report
which posse sses the most general in.
terest is the late State Printers an
alysis of the cost OF the school text
books. 1t has been fippantly assert
ed that the State would not and could
not print the school books at the
prices the State Board OF Education
has set upon them. In order to prove
the contrary, and to show that his es-
timates were approximately correct,
he gives complete analysis of the
cost of the books already printed
coupled with an exhibit Of the entire
current expenditure OF the depart.
ment in this connection. The books
already published are Speller and
First, Second and Third Readers
The analysis shows that the cost o
the work and material on that por-
ton of the books, which will have
to be renewed for every edition,
amounts to 500, $3.50, to which he
adds 81 ,036. 20, the proportiouate cost
of the permanent work and materia
that will be available for all sub
sequent editions. These two
su ms make total OF $50, ,2S7 so
To this he adds the cost OF unfinished
work on the Second Reader, then in
hand, LOO, which gives total o.
$31 ,9S7. so for the art and mechanical
work and for material for the first edi
ton of the four books. At the rate
fixed by the State Board of Educa'
ton at which they are to be sold, the
returns to the State will sum up
$33, 100. leaving a margin in favor oi
the State of 81 1920. But the cost
of compilation of the books should be
added to the material and mechanical
cost, and that being permanen,
work, it should also be spread over a
number of editions, and therefore
amounts to one-tenth OF the total
sum expended for compiling the four
books-or $524.7O. This deducted
from the margin above, leaves
81 ,237.S0 as the residue to the credit
OF the State. But by taking the
actual expenditures in Text Book